Indicator for valves



y 9, 1933- J. L. HUTCH|NG$ 1,907,819

INDICATOR FOR VALVES Filed June 1931 /5 /9 @1 /6 i k? a INVENTORATTORNEYS Patented May 9, 19 33 'Jos'ErH n'nv'rcnrnesor oLnAu; new m; d

. mmcrioa non vALvEs Application filed June 25, 1931. Serial No.5443;817.

This invention relates to valves and has as me 2 is a view taken atright anglesto I its aim to provide avalve incorporating visual 1showing the upper portion ofthe valve; Figindicating mechanism wherebythe extent of ure 8 1s a horizontalsectionalflview taken on mined.

D e I ects above the valve housing and opening and its opening andclosing may be readily deterthe line 3-3ot Fig. 1'; Figure 4 isamodified a form of the indicating device applied to a In the use ofhand-operated valves of the globe valve; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged viewof 'o-eneral classin which a rotatable stein jprothe helix ofFig. l.

In I practice closing of the valve is eitected by turningthe monlyemploye 10 stem, it is impossible to determine the extent a flat gate orwedge is displaced endwise in P:

d,namely gate valves in which of opening of the valve and hence theamount a direction transversely of the line to vary of fluid passingthrough the line, or, more the size of the valve passage,.and globevalves frequently, to know if the stem has been in which adisc is liftedlaterallytrom a seat screwed completely home to close the line. touncover the valve passage; in both cases 15 The determination of thislatter condition is the extent" to which the valve passage is especiallyimportant in systems transmitting opened is determinedby the amount' otrota;

combustible gases or inflammable liquids to tion impar avoidtheoccurrence of serious accidents residethe va sulting from leakage of thefluid past the crating means for the gage or disc, In the valve. 7 caseof agate valve, turning the stem usually 9 It is an object of thepresentinvention to causes simply provide indicating mechanism in whichrelastem of a glob ted to the stem whichiproje'cts outlve housing andserves as theopits rotation; while turning the 1 e valve'usu'ally causesboth rotive displacement between an index element tation and axialmovement of'the stem.

and a gage element coordinated with the Since this action ofthe' stemsischaracteristic movement of the valve operating stem afiords otpractica means by which the workman may ascertain a descripti ally all valvesnow in 'c'ommon' us'e, on of the ndlcatmg mechanism of:

the'amount of opening of the valve or, what'is the invention as appliedto these types of more important, insure that the valve is comvalveswill serve to lllustratehow it may be prise a graduated scale or maymerely bear a pletely closed. The gage element may comap plied withe'qiial effectiveness to others; There' is illustrated in Fig; 1 acommon 39 mark or other indication constituting a reterform of gatevalve consisting of a housing ence pointirom which the workman, by not-1 in which is enclosed a vertically movable ing the distance between theindex element gate or wedge (not shown) which is'arranged and suchreference point, may readily conto be raised and lowered by means'of ascre w clude the operative position of the valve. The 2 to vary the sizeof the valve'passageand 35 term gage as usedherein'signifies an elementhence to regulate the amount of" fluid passbearing a designation, ordesignations, which ing therethrou gh. V The housingis provided isadapted to be brought into correspondence with a cap3 a'ndthe upper endof) the screw with an index element to denote aspecific con- 2 forms astem 4 which projects vertically dition of the valve. More especially itis an through this cap; A hand-wheel- 5' fitted object of theinvention'to provide indicating up mechanism which may be easilyattached to ford any of the conventional types of valves, such "stem isprovi mechanism-being simple in construction and [its within-a'recess'7' in the lower member of positive in operation. a two p on the uppersquared end of thestem ats a means tor operating the valve. The ded witha collar 6 which loosely art s'tuiiing box the'bottomshoulder Theinvention willbe better understood by ofwhich collar bears against theupper surreferen'ceto the attached drawing ofpreterred face oi thehousing cap 3. j The 's'tuflingbox embodiments in which Figure 1 shows asurrounds the p stem' lwhere it emerges from 50 typical form of gatevalveequipped with the the housing and comprisesajlower member 8indicating mechanism of the invention; Figformed with, a cup 8a in whichis contained 50" provided with an enlarged ce lowermember 8by' integralwith the threaded upon the r of the split ring.

the ring apart sufli .the gland ll where its end is toward the st inFig. 1, to aplate 21a having an o site sides of the bear the advolutions of the helical coil are sp such distance as to snugly receiwhich has j tion of'the stem 4- the ri follower 18 whi valve as hasalready been ex screw 16 until the ring Upon onezsideof the slot 17extending 5 is afollower 18 c with the. scale is an index ele by apointer 19 fa 'tion of its length is 'flat ribbonofmetal a suitablepacking 9 surrounding the stem and an upper member 11 including a gland11a adapted to telescope within the cup and compress the packing aboutthe stem. The lower member 8 of the stufling box is affixed to the cap 3by means of short bolts 12, and the upper member 11 is assembled withthe means of a pair of vertical g from the lower member 1111 openings inaflange 11b upper member. Nuts 14 upper ends of these studs 7 flange 11bpermitting ad and 1164 with respect to. the

studs 13 projectin and receivable witl bear againstthe justment of thegl cup8a. p v v Thestructure which has ust been described ay beconsidered representive of a conven nal form of gate valve. In this typeof plained rotation ose the valve ret of the stem. In

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of the stem 1 to open and cl s'ults in no endwise'movemen accordancewiththe present invention a split ring 15 is clampedupon the stem belowthe handwheel 5 by means of a contracting screw 16 whichextends'betweenthe adjacent ends The, splint ring may be by spreading the ends ofciently to pass over the htening the contracting binds upon the stem.ring15fis" a vertical parallel to the axis of the. stem, and slidablydisposed within this slot omprising a flat metal strip ition adjacentbent inwardly em to form a projection 18a. lower is marked a scale ofnuand cooperating ment constituted stened tothe ring 15 adjaappliedto'the stem stem and then tig' of a length reaching to a pos Upon thisfol merals, ,asshown in Fig. 2',

cent the slot 17. V V

Loosely surrounding the stem 4 for a por a coil 20 comprising a wound inthe form of a t its lower end, as shown 21 made of sheet metal. Theplate 21 rests against the upper surface of the flange 11b ofthe'stuiiing box andis ntra'l portion pening as illustrated in Fig. 3through'which passes the stem 4. The opposite ends of the plate arebifurcated to provi'de pairs oflegs 22 which extend on oppostuds 13 andagainst which justing nuts 14. Adjacent conaced apart ve between themthe projection 18a on the follower 18. (It will be apparent from thestructure ust been described that upon rotang 15, andhence the eh iscarried in the slot 17 in the ring, will rotate in helix and fastened aunison with "the stem.

plurality of sliding move in this slot is fastened the low -or rod thisfollower small screw 37 i with the stem 31 for a subst its length andhas'its end to jstituting the gage may 5 This in turn will cause theprojection 18a extending between eonvolutions of the coil 20 nd abuttingagainst its opposed flat surfaces to movevertically up or. down withinthe slot bringing different numerals under the pointer 19. The indiciaon the scale may be mere arbitrary designations or may bear a definiterelationship to the amount of fluid passing through the valve. As hasbefore been suggested, in lieu of a scale a designation-or adesignations-may be provided on thefollower serving as a point ofreference which lies under the pointer when the valve is eithercompletely o and even the end edge of the follower itself may constitutesuch a designation. The amount of'opening or closing of; the valve willtherefore be indicated by the distance of separation of the pointer fromthe appropriate designation on the follower.

While this embodiment of the invention has been described as comprisinga stationary coil and a follower which partakes of the re.- tation ofthe stem, the invention nevertheless includes a construction in whichthe follower is stationarily supported but free for vertical ment, andthe coil is arranged to turn with the stem. r

In Fig. 4 is illustrated a common form of globe valve and shows how theindicating mechanism may be applied thereto. In this type of valveoperation of the stem to open and close the valvecauses both rotativeand axial movement of the stem. The housing 30 contains the disc (notshown) the valve passage and the disc is moved to uncover the passage byrotating the stem 31 through a handwheel 32 on its upper end. A splitring 33 is clamped by means of a binding screw 34: upon a cap 35surmounting the housing 30.. This ring 33 is similar to the ring 15 ofthe construction, shownin- Fi 1, being provided witha vertical slot 36.'VVither end of 'a folated metal plate gidly held by a lower 38comprising an elong being ri ntersecting t lower. The follower extendsin'parallelism antial portion of ed in toward the ent or projection dsbetween fadjaetal coil 39loosely attachedat its up f the'handwheel 32.eing stampedfwit'h onstructi n, in this stem to form an index elem 38a.This projection ext'en cent convolutions of a flat m surrounding thestem and per end to the lower face 0 Instead of the follower b indiciaas in theformer c embodiment of the invent ample, as shown in Fig. 5into equ to define a scale or indicia 40. 7 7

It will be apparent that when the-handwheel 32 isturned to rotatethestem with an, attend Carryi al divisions which covers ant endwisemovement thereof,;the coil.v ng thescale will also partakeof this if penor completely closed,

he slot and folion the coil .39 conbe marked, for ex- 7 the gage elementrelative compound movement. The projection 3 8a, on the end of thefollower 38 which is stationarily supported in the ring 33, operates asa pointer to give a reading upon the scale borne by the coil to indicatethe extent of opening of the valve.

While the superposition of the scale upon the upper flat face of thecoil has been suggested, the scale manifestly may just as suitably beinscribed upon the outer circumference of the coil 20 in which casethere will cooperate with it a longitudinal edge of the follower 18.Likewise the mechanism which has just been described may with equaleffectiveness be applied to the type of valve in which no axial movementof the stem accompanies its rotation under which condition the follower38 will be arranged for sliding movement within the slot 36 and willcarry a scale or other designations which will cooperate with'an indexelement on a fixed portion of the valve housing to indicate the positionof the valve.

It will be observed that the indicating mechanism for both types ofvalves comprises essentially the same structure so that in manufacturethe parts may if desired be made and furnished for interchangeable usewith either type of valve. 7

I claim:

1. In a valve of the type comprising a housing and a stem projectingabove the housing and adapted to be manually rotated to regulate theamount of fluid passing through the valve, a gage elementrotatable withthe shaft, a stat-ionarily mounted coil surrounding the stem and aprojection on the gage element extending between adjacent convolutionsof the coil.

2. In a valve of the type comprising a housing and a stem projectingabove the housing and adapted to be manually rotated to regulate theamount of fluid passing through the valve, relatively 'movable gage andindex elements, and means for moving to the index element, said meanscomprising a member fixedly mounted on the stem and rotatable therewith,saidmember having a vertical slot slidably receiving the gage element, astationary coil surrounding the stem, and a pro jection on the gageelement extendingbetween adjacent convolutions of the coil.

3. In a valve of the type comprising a housing and a stem projectingabove the housing and adapted to be'manually rotated r to regulate theamount of fluid passing through the valve, relatively movable gage andindex elements, and means for moving the gage element relative to saidmeans comprising a ring mounted on the stem,

tionary coil surrounding the stem, and a projection on the gage elementextending be- -from the valve and the index element, a

said ring having a vertical slot slidably receiving the gage element, aeta-- tween adjacent convolutions of the coil, said index element'beingmounted on" the ring adjacent the slot.

4. In a valve of the type comprising a housing and a stem projectingabove the housing and adapted to be manually rotated to regulate theamount of fluid passing through the valve, relatively movable gage andindex elements, said gage element being movable coincident with rotationof the stem,

and a helical band associated with the movthe valve stem, said 'heliaxis00110611 0110 with the comprising a strip of material wound into a coiland bearing indicia upon its surface rotatable with the stem and theother element comprising a stationary member engaging the coil andhaving a pointer-adapted to cooperate with the indicia on the coil.

6. In a valve of the type comprising, a housing and astem projectingabove the housing and adapted to be manually rotated to regulate theamount of fluid passing through the valve, relatively movable gage andindex elements, said gage element comprising a flat helical memberrotatable with the stem and bearing indicia upon its upper surface, andthe index element comprising a stationary member extending betweenadjacent convolutions of the helical member and overlyin the indicia;

7. In a vzfive of the type comprising a housing and a stem projectingabove the housing and adapted to be manually rotated to regulate theamount of fluid passing through the valve,relatively movable scale andindex elements, said scale element comprising a flat helical memberrotatable with the stem and bearing indicia on its upper said helicalband being comprising a of fluid passing surface, a ring attachable toand detachable an index member supported by the ring in parallelism withthe stem and having its free end bent to extend between adjacentconvolutions of the'lielical member and overlying the indicia.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOSEPH niiU'rciiiNes,

